


Light in the Shadow

by chicken_nuggies (thatweirdnoiseat2am)



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: non-shippy but you can read it either way if you wanna, there are no therapists in the sky world so you just gotta Deal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:48:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25516771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatweirdnoiseat2am/pseuds/chicken_nuggies
Summary: When Lucilius comes down with a mysterious illness two archangels try to help him, with various degrees of success.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Light in the Shadow

There was a time when Lucilius got very sick, once.

It left everyone rather puzzled. Astrals didn't get sick. Their bodies could still get damaged, of course, but they didn't suffer from the same illnesses that befell the people of the sky.

And yet, the Astral best known for working day and night, for being an endless well of briliant ideas had one day just stopped showing up at the lab.

Word was, he started spending all the time in his private quarters, not even leaving his bed.

“I'm worried about him,” said Lucifer. “This behavior is very unlike him.”

“Oh, don't be such a stick in the mud,” Belial laughed. “Everybody needs a break once in a while – even beasts have to sleep sometimes, or we risk overloading our cores, isn't that right?”

Lucifer sighed. “I suppose so. I hope rest is all he needs.”

“Now don't worry your pretty little head too much about this. Just keep doing what you always do, and I'm sure whatever is wrong will clear up in no time.”

Once they parted ways, Belial made his way through the lab down a familiar path – towards Lucilius's room.

Two knocks on the door, no reply. To Belial, though, that was enough of an invitation. He pushed the door open.

“Hello there, Cillius, how have you been!” Belial found the Astral researcher—who admittedly wasn't doing much “researching” at the moment—exactly where he was expecting to – in bed. He took a seat on the bed's edge.

“I've got Lucifer's report for you – seems like he's a bit too busy at the moment and he asked me to pass it on. There was also something about another Otherworld invasion...”

“Mm.”  
Lucilius didn't even look in his direction. That's how it's been these past few days – whenever Belial visited him he'd been either sleeping or staring at the wall or ceiling. Except he clearly wasn't even looking at them either – the wall was simply in the way of whatever faraway thing Lucilius had seemingly been staring at.

“I'll just leave the report here then, you can take a look at it later, if you want-- Hey, do you want me to get you anything? Just say a word. What will it be? A book? Another pillow? Or perhaps... Some company in bed?” He smirked, moving as if to wrap his arms around the smaller figure.

Lucilius turned away from him, wrapping his arms around himself in an almost protective gesture. “Go away.”

Even those words didn't seem to have the usual edge to them.

“So that's a no, then,” Belial sighed in an exaggerated fashion, but that garnered no response from the other man. “Hey, see, even I know when to back off, yeah?”

Silence.

Defeated, Belial shrugged and started making his way towards the exit. “Well, if you change your mind just give me a shout – you know where to find me,” he said that last bit in a sing-song voice, but when he closed the door behind him his expression was far from cheerful.

Belial was used to Lucilius slapping his hands away or cussing at him – getting a rise out of him like that was fun in its own way. It was kind of like getting Lucilius to play along with a game only the two of them knew how to play. Though, the Astral in question would likely scoff at the notion.

But this kind of quiet rejection was unlike anything Belial had been used to. He had no idea how to react to being _shut out_ so completely.

If he was being honest (though he'd never admit it to anybody) seeing his creator like this scared the hell out of him. It didn't seem like there was anything physically wrong with Lucilius, but if that was the case, then just what on Earth was wrong with him? And, more importantly, what was Belial supposed to say or do to fix this? None of his usual tricks seemed to work, and he was starting to run out of ideas.

He might have been designed to be the most intelligent of the archangels, but even he had to admit to being a bit stumped on this one.

A few days later, Lucifer knocked on the door to Lucilius's room.

“May I come in?” There was no reply, and Lucifer hesitated for a moment, but opened the door anyway.

Inside he saw his friend – in bed, asleep.

His first instinct was to turn back – he can come back some other time after all – but something didn't let him leave. He closed the door behind him, and with a few long steps made his way to the bed, before sitting on its edge.

Lucilius might have been asleep, but his face was far from peaceful. His expression twisted, as if whatever he was seeing in his dream was causing him terrible pain.

Lucifer brushed away a few stray strands of hair that fell on Lucilius's eyes. In his journeys thorough the skydoms he saw something similar a few times – people suffering quietly, as their bodies turned on them, an illness consuming them from the inside. But whatever Lucilius was suffering from seemed different from any illness Lucifer knew of.

He gently placed his palm on his creator's cheek. He didn't have a fever – but then again, it would've been stranger if he did. After all, Astrals didn't get sick.

Lucifer thought to wake him up from whatever nightmare he was having, but before he could do that, Lucilius's breathing started to grow less shallow and more even, and his expression turned from pained to blank. He seemed to lean slightly into Lucifer's palm still pressed to his face.

Lucifer sighed in relief. That was an improvement, at least.

_Belial would've been better at dealing with this,_ he mused.

Lucilius and Belial were close in a way that that Lucifer couldn't really find words to describe, but whenever he looked at them he felt a pang of loneliness—is that what it was?--in his chest. Thinking about it made him feel somewhat ridiculous – he knew full well that Lucilius valued his company, and that all the other archangels looked up to him as their leader. What reason did he have to feel lonely?

He looked back to Lucilius, who was now asleep seemingly without a care in the world.

_Maybe Belial is right – maybe a bit of rest is all he needs._

But then the image of Lucilius's pained face flashed in his mind again, and he sighed once more. _I wish you'd tell me what is wrong, my friend. Then, perhaps, I would know how_ _best_ _to help you._

**Author's Note:**

> I'd give Lucilius a hug, but he'd probably stab me.


End file.
